The PBE has been updated! As we start the 8.15 PBE cycle, today's patch includes the large scope Akali champion update and all of her updated skins, new Pool Party skins for Caitlyn, Gangplank, and Zoe, new icons, new emotes, several new chroma sets, and more!

Continue reading to dive into more information!

(Warning: PBE Content is tentative and subject to change - what you see below may not reflect what eventually gets pushed to live servers at the end of the cycle! Manage your expectations accordingly.)

Champion Update - Akali

Following her gameplay trailer and reveal, Akali's champion update is now on the PBE including a new look, new kit, and updated skins.

Before we get into the sneaky details, here's Riot Ranger XIV with an Akali bug thread:

"Hey there!

Today is the day that Akali is hitting PBE. We're still working on a bit of the polish and some of the final assets but we are very close! You might experience a bug or two when playing her or against her. I'd love to hear about them to ensure we have as close to a perfect product as possible. So if you could put down as much information about the bug in this thread that will really help me. Thank you very much!

Infernal Akali will be disabled today because her E was optimized and it made it a giant pizza box. It is fixed and will be playable tomorrow! Thank you very much for understanding.

Please keep this thread related to bugs. I will try to poke my head into other threads to answer questions from players and provide clarity. Thank you very much!

Dealing spell damage to a champion reveals an energy ring around them.

When Akali crosses the ring, she extends her kama and empowers it. Her next attack has doubled range, deals [39-180 based on level] (+90% bAD)(+70% AP) bonus magic damage, and restores [10 - 30 based on level] energy.

New Skins

Pool Party Caitlyn

"Hey summ--players, I’m back with the Caitlyn ready to party at the pool. Get some supersoaker action right now on PBE!

New model and textures - Featuring a high-powered water rifle

New Spell VFX - Sea what sea creatures we put in.

New SFX - Watery action never felt so critical.

New recall animation - Keeping the party crabs busy.

Pool Party Caitlyn is now soaking in the sun on PBE! Report back here with any bugs that occured or feedback that you have. If you’ve got any questions, I’ll be the support you need to carry your bugs and feedback to the team.

Pool Party Gangplank

"Hello gamers, it’s KiWiKiD again with POOOOOL Party Gangplank! Stroll along the beach with hot bod Gangplank and blow some watermelons up on your foes.

New model and textures - Ready to swim, dance, and party all in one.

New Spell VFX - Explosive watermelons, fiery spatulas, and more!

New SFX - That oh-so-satisfying water pump Q.

New recall animation - Steaks. Steaks for all.

Pool Party Gangplank is now available on PBE! Go forth and show some players how strong watermelons can really be. Report back here with any bugs that occured or feedback that you have. If you’ve got any questions, you know who to call. Me!

Pool Party Gangplank is currently set at 1350 RP (subject to change)."

Pool Party Zoe

"KiWiKiD here taking you out to the ocean to meet Pool Party Zoe! Skip a long with her along the sands of the Runeterra.

New model and textures - Featuring breezy turquoise-blue hair that couldn’t look better in the sun.

New Spell VFX - Incite some beach memories with every spell!

New SFX - SFX on all spells!! Paddleboarding is as fun as ever.

New recall animation - Don’t dive into their fountain, dive back into your fountain.

Pool Party Zoe is now available on PBE! Go one-watershot some people. Remember to report back here with any bugs that occured or feedback that you have. And of course: If you’ve got any questions, I’m here for them, and you.

We’ve got some new Chromas coming up for our biggest pool party ever--Pool Party Zoe, Pool Party Caitlyn, Pool Party Rek’Sai, Pool Party Taric and Pool Party Gangplank! In addition to that, we’ve also got some new Headhunter Akali Chromas coming too with the Akali update!

Pool Party Zoe:

New textures:“I’ve got a magic present for you! Here it comes!”

Pool Party Zoe (Ruby)

Pool Party Zoe (Emerald)

Pool Party Zoe (Sapphire)

Pool Party Zoe (Amethyst)

Pool Party Zoe (Rainbow)

Pool Party Zoe (Rose Quartz)

Pool Party Caitlyn:

New textures:“Got them in my sights.”

Pool Party Caitlyn (Ruby)

Pool Party Caitlyn (Rose Quartz)

Pool Party Caitlyn (Catseye)

Pool Party Caitlyn (Obsidian)

Pool Party Caitlyn (Aquamarine)

Pool Party Rek’Sai:

New textures:

Pool Party Rek’Sai (Ruby)

Pool Party Rek’Sai (Obsidian)

Pool Party Rek’Sai (Emerald)

Pool Party Rek’Sai (Rose Quartz)

Pool Party Rek’Sai (Tanzanite)

Pool Party Rek’Sai (Turquoise)

Pool Party Taric:

New textures: “Gems are truly, truly, truly outrageous.”

Pool Party Taric (Rose Quartz)

Pool Party Taric (Catseye)

Pool Party Taric (Obsidian)

Pool Party Taric (Pearl)

Pool Party Gangplank:

New textures: “I’ll come back stronger.”

Pool Party Gangplank (Obsidian)

Pool Party Gangplank (Amethyst)

Pool Party Gangplank (Ruby)

Pool Party Gangplank (Citrine)

Pool Party Gangplank (Rose Quartz)

Pool Party Gangplank (Pearl)

Headhunter Akali:

New textures: “Mark acquired.”

Headhunter Akali (Ruby)

Headhunter Akali (Tanzanite)

Headhunter Akali (Pearl)

The Chroma sets are now available on PBE! We hope you all will enjoy the new sets; as usual, we’re looking forward to hearing your constructive feedback. I’ll do my best to answer and reply to your questions and feedback!

Thanks!

Riot Orphyre"

New Emotes

Four new summoner emotes were added this cycle - "Shell Shocked", "Snoozy Poro", "Pool Party Pengu", and "Pool Party 2018":

New Summoner Icons

In addition to the new skins, we also have a total of six pool party themed icons!'

Fifteen other summoner icons were also added. Each appear to be for Youtubers or Creators (and several appear from BR server). More information on these can be found here - they are part of a new program to bring new players to league .

New Ward Skins

Three new ward skins featuring a Pengu surfing on a killer wave.

Surfin' Pengu Ward

Wipeout Pengu Ward

Hang Loose Pengu Ward

[video previews soon!]

Miscellaneous

Pool Party Minions and Map accents are enabled on the PBE, including the return of the Pool Party Minions and new Pool Party themed red buff and blue buff camps!

Pool Party Loadscreen added:

Akali's face in the background Surgeon Shen's splash art has been updated to go along with champion update.

Context & Notes

Some of the things we'll be looking at in 8.15 below. As usual some more stuff will be added as we work on the patch and some things will get dropped, either because they're not ready or because we conclude they weren't the right direction in the first place.

Annie buff - We're pulling Annie buffs out of 8.14 to take some more time on them for 8.15. First thing we'll be testing is giving Annie back at least some of the extra AA range she used to have.

Liandry's buff - Similarly the Liandry's buff has also moved to 8.15. Will likely still be exploring ways to make it a better choice for many champs without having to pair it with Rylai's, while still keeping some degree of CC synergy. Details TBD>

Gold Funneling and TP nerf followups - Expecting there'll be some polish needed, putting time aside to do a lot of monitoring of how those changes land at the least.

Playoffs Balance - Some regions will be playing their Summer Split playoffs on 8.15. We'll be keeping change pretty low as a result overall, with potentially a targeted nerf or two to really pro problematic champs if needs be (Play off patches are one of the times we prioritize looking at pro balance more than usual). "

2) Riot Riscxprovided context on the Creator summoner icons that hit the PBE in today's update:

"Hi reddit,

As you guys know we have lots of different teams inside Riot. The team that made these icons is part of a program to bring new players into League - Part of their strategy is to bring in new content creators who can introduce League of Legends to broadly different audiences. You'll see some of these engagements rolling out over the next month, which is why the icons are in the PBE build now.

It's understandable that for current content creators and viewers that have loved and played League for years, seeing non-League communities being recognized with in-game content feels bad. Part of the reason it feels worse is that we're clearly behind in terms of rewarding and recognizing our current content creators, and it's a super high priority for us to change that ASAP.

The reason I'm responding to the post is that I'm a team lead working on our new League Partners program for current creators. I can't leak the specific rewards we are working on yet, but they're much more than just a summoner icon in the game (though we will do icons too). Think exclusive content like chromas you can only get from creators or creator programs, paid travel to international creator events, content reveal partnering/previews, etc. Regional teams will be able to talk to content creators about the specific rewards in the next few weeks, and we should have something public a bit after that.

Some of the regions might pull the icons from launching, which I think would be a shame since it wont actually solve the root problem - that we arent doing enough for current content creators - which we are committed to solving separately"